Resilient wheel.



R. B. & W. B. GRAY.

RBSILIENT WHEEL.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 20, 1913.

Patented Dec. 9, 1913.

0, F W m RALPH B. GRAY AND WILLIAM B. GRAY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RESILIENT WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 9, 1913.

Application filed March 20, 1913. Serial No. 755,719.

State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Resilient Wheels, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact, description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

Heretofore, resilient wheels having spring spokes the outer ends of which are provided with shoes in sliding engagement with the inner surface of the rim, have been unsuccessful on account of having no means of taking up the wear on the shoes, and because it was necessary to put the springs under such a great compression, in order to hold I the shoes against the track in order to prevent noise, that the springs have either set or broken, within a very short time.

Our invention relates to a device providing means for overcoming the above objections relating to spring sliding shoes and a simple hub construction.

Our wheel is assembled by looking all the springs solid in the hub, contracting the springs in any suitable way. so as to allow them to be inserted into the rim, or in case no tension is desired on the spring spokes then they are simply placed in the rim and then are connected in sliding engagement,

with the rim by means of spring shoes which we describe hereinafter.

The various features of novelty by which our invention is characterized will hereinafter he pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a full understanding of our invention and of its various objects and advantages, reference may be had to the following detaileddescription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a fragment of a wheel embodying our invention in one of its forms, a portion of one side of the hub being broken away; Fig. 2 is an end view of hub, one spring inserted; Fig. 3 is a section of hub along a plane parallel with the axis; Fig. 4 is a view of one-half of the hub looking at the inner side; Fig. 5 is a cross section through a rim having assoaxle openings 6.

ciated therewith one form of shoe in slidingengagement therewith; Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, showing still another shoe; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of another form of shoe; and Fig. 8 is'aperspective view of one of the springs in Fig. 7.

Referring to the first four figures of the drawlng, 1 represents a wheel hub; 2 represents a wheel rim; 3 represents spokes extending between the hub and the rim. The

hub is preferably made in two parts divided along a plane at right angles to the axis, the faces of the two halves have registered radial grooves which, when the two halves are placed together, form radial sockets for receiving the inner ends of the spokes. For the sake of lightness we prefer to make the hub as illustrated, each part comprising a disk member, 4, having an annular flange, 5, around the edge, the flanges abutting against each other when the parts of the hub are assembled .and giving the hub the form of a short hollow cylinder closed at the ends except, of course, that the ends may contain The spoke sockets are formed by milling or otherwise cutting radial grooves, 7, through the flanges, 5, these grooves extending a short distance into the body of the disk members. When the spokes are rectangular in cross section, as s own, the grooves will also be rectangular and each spoke will fit along its opposite edge in shallow channels or grooves at points between the flanges and the center of the hub, while at the periphery of the hub the metal of the flanges completely encircles the spokes. The two halves of the hub may be secured together in any suitable way, for example, by means of distributed bolts 8, passing through them parallel with the axis. \Vhen the hub and spokes are assembled, the spokes are rigidly held in place and cannot accidentally be displaced. The spokes are made in the form of curved springs, preferably strong fiat spring plates longer than the radial distance between the rim and the hub.

The outer ends of the spring spokes are not fixed to the rim but are loose thereon so as to be slidable along the same as the wheel travels. One of the principal features of the present invention relates to the connection between the spokes and the rim, whereby the sliding contact is maintained,- the spokes are effectually held against the rim to prevent hammering, and wear between the spokes and the rim is automatically taken up.

- In Figs. 5-8 of the drawings several forms of connecting devices having the desired characteristics are illustrated. Referring to Fig. 5, 9 represents a wedge shaped felly riveted to a suitable rim, 10, the narrow side of the felly being next to the rim. The outer end of the spoke 3 is hinged to a resilient shoe which rests upon the inner face of the felly and grips the sides thereof, the shoe being therefore free to move along the felly against the frictional resistance produced by the gripping action. In the particular arrangement shown, the shoe is made in two halves, l1 and 12, fastened together in any suitable way, preferably by means of a bolt, 13, which serves also as one of the hinge members between the shoe and the spoke. Each half of the shoe has attached thereto an angular spring plate, 14, one member of which rests upon the felly while the other engages with one of the sides of the felly. The tendency of the spring platesis to assume the positions indicated in dotted lines in the drawing, so that they must be sprung apart in order to place them upon the felly. Consequently the plates yieldingly grip the sides of the felly and, as wear takes place, the spring plates automatically take it up, so as to leave no side play or lost motion of the shoe in the radial direction. If desired, one or more auxiliary side springs, vl5, may be held to the shoe in any suitable way, as by means of the bolt, 13, and thus reinforce the spring members 14:.

Reference being had to Fig. 6, 16 is a tubular felly or track member bolted or otherwise secured within a rim, 1 7; the member 16 being preferably circular in cross section. The spring spoke 3 is connected to the track or felly by means of a gripping shoe shaped to fit about the track or felly. The gripping shoe is made of two parts, 18 and 19, secured together by a bolt, 20, which may also serve as one member of the hinge between the shoe and the spoke. The gripping portions 21 and 22 of the shoe are made resilient so that they normally tend to take the positions indicated in dotted lines in the drawing. Consequently these gripping members must be sprung apart in order properly to engage them with the track or felly, and consequently they yieldingly grip the track or felly, permitting the shoe to slide along the same and taking up any wear which occurs; and as in the arrangement shown in Fig. 5, preventing looseness or lost motion either in the radial direction or sidewise'. The parts of the shoe are preferably made in the form of spring steel castings, the members 21 and 22 bemg made comparatively thin.

In Figs. 7 and 8 we have shown a still further arrangement, 23 representing a fiat shoe having projecting ears, 24 and 25, between which the end of a spring spoke is adapted to extend and to which it may be hinged by bending it around a bolt, 26, passing through the ears. Inverted U- shaped springs, 27, are secured to the ends of the shoe in any suitable way, conveniently by means of rivets, 28, passing through the yoke's of the springs and the shoes. The arms-of the springs are intended to grip the sides of the felly or track of a wheel rim and are shaped to conform thereto. As in other forms of our invention, the shoes yieldingly grip the rim members, permitting a sliding movement of the shoes along the same, preventing lost motion in the radial direction or sidewise, and automatically taking up any wear which may occur.

We claim:

1. In a resilient wheel, a hub, a rim, spring spokes extending between the hub and the rim and fixed at their inner ends to the hub, shoes pivotally connected to the" outer ends of the spokes so as to be movable relative the wheel, and resilient members on each shoe engaging with the two sides of the rim and clamping the rim between them.

2. In a resilient wheel, a hub, a rim, spring spokes extending between the hub and the rim and fixed at their inner ends to the hub, the width of the rim measured parallel with the axis of the wheel decreasing from the inner surface of the rim outwardly, shoes pivotally connected to the outer endsof the spokes so as to be movable relative thereto about axes parallel with the axis of the wheel, and spring members on each shoe yieldingly gripping the sides of the rim.

In testimony whereof, we sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

RALPH B; GRAY. WILLIAM B. GRAY. Witnesses:

J. P. SGANNELL, W. C. ROBERTS. 

